Supplier Stories for the Week of February 3

Sensirion offers advanced sensor technologies to monitor and control processes that play roles in such personalized medicine applications as cancer therapy using flow cytometers, DNA sequencing, and organ-on-a-chip applications. Sensirion’s product portfolio includes differential pressure sensors, liquid and gas flow sensors, and CO2, PM2.5, and humidity and temperature sensors.

One example of such a sensor solution is the liquid flow sensor LPG10. With a footprint of just 10 x 10 mm2, the LPG10 can be easily integrated into even the smallest of medical devices, even point-of-care devices. Given that the LPG10 features glass as the only wetted material, the sensor offers excellent biocompatibility, the company reported. It is particularly suited for the above-mentioned applications given the sensor’s adherence to microthermal measurement principles and its high precision and speed at even the lowest flow rates.

[Image courtesy of SENSIRION]

Editor's Note: If you have news you’d like to submit for potential inclusion in future weekly roundups, please send a press release and any related images to [email protected] with the subject line “Supplier Stories.”

Putnam Plastics Corp. has expanded its product portfolio to include RilSlix coated mandrels and wires. The new products feature a surface chemistry that has been optimized for use as a processing aid in catheter manufacturing and employ a range of fluoropolymer coatings, including the proprietary RilSlix coating, the company reported. All coatings are compatible with discrete, tapered, and continuous wire.

“As a catheter engineer, my team regularly utilizes coated mandrels in the manufacturing of complex catheters,” said Robert St. John, senior catheter engineer at Putnam Plastics, in a news release. “These new mandrels coated from RilSlix compounds are ideal for multi-lumen catheters, reflow processes, or continuous processes where mandrels are required as they are easily released and can be used over and over again without flaking.”

Discrete mandrel and continuous wire coating are compatible with a variety of metals such as stainless steel, silver plated copper, and Nitinol in diameters ranging from 0.010 in. to more than 0.500 in. (0.254 mm to 12.7 mm). The company can also provide discrete lengths up to 13 ft (4 m).

Putnam Plastics engineers can help with material selection and optimization to help ensure that the polymer coating that is ultimately selected is best suited to meet specific product performance requirements. Samples are available in formats that will allow customers to evaluate bond strength, frictional properties, and durability.

[Image courtesy of PUTNAM PLASTICS CORP.]

Editor's Note: If you have news you’d like to submit for potential inclusion in future weekly roundups, please send a press release and any related images to [email protected] with the subject line “Supplier Stories.”

Spectra Medical Grade (MG) fiber from Honeywell can be incorporated into medical devices used for minimally invasive procedures. The ultra-lightweight and ultra-high-strength fiber offers medical device manufacturers greater flexibility for designing and building smaller, stronger, and lighter devices, the company explained in a news release. It is resistant to chemicals, water, and ultraviolet light.

“Technology advancements have made it possible to increase the effectiveness of devices and improve patient comfort by shortening recovery time and hospital stays,” said Ken West, vice president and general manager, packaging and composites, at Honeywell, in the release. “These devices are carefully designed by skilled engineers, and Spectra can help medical device manufacturers design smaller, lower profile devices with greater strength, weight and resistance properties than alternatives available in the market today.”

When compared with conventional polyethylene fiber, Spectra MG demonstrates an ultra-high molecular weight, degree of orientation, and crystallinity, resulting in higher fiber strength and better wear resistance to surface damage, the company reported. It is also reportedly three times stronger than polyester in volume basis.

[Image courtesy of HONEYWELL]

Editor's Note: If you have news you’d like to submit for potential inclusion in future weekly roundups, please send a press release and any related images to [email protected] with the subject line “Supplier Stories.”

Qosina has introduced three swabbable needleless injection sites. Compliant with ISO 80369-7, the components can be used in flushing, sampling, and IV applications. The needleless design offers a safe, convenient method of delivering fluids, the company reported.

The luer-activated sites can prevent dripping and leakage when disconnected, eliminating the need for clamps. When the male luer lock connects to the female luer lock, the stem opens the bidirectional valve, allowing for fluid transfer. The internal threads on the male luer match up with the external threads on the valve, creating a secure connection, the company explained. Upon disconnection, the valve closes.

Qosina showcased the new needleless injection sites, along with thousands of stock components, at MD&M West February 5-7.

The company is ISO 9001, ISO 13485, and ISO 14001 certified and operates in a 95,000-sq-ft facility with an ISO Class 8 cleanroom.

[Image courtesy of QOSINA]

Editor's Note: If you have news you’d like to submit for potential inclusion in future weekly roundups, please send a press release and any related images to [email protected] with the subject line “Supplier Stories.”

"We at Epoxy Technology Inc. are committed to testing all of our MED adhesives to the industry's most comprehensive ISO 10993 biocompatibility standards and will continue to perform this level of testing, adding more adhesives to this important line of products in the coming year," explained Joan Bramer, global sales and marketing director, in a news release. "We recognize the importance of this testing, as well as the critical quality assurance requirements needed in the medical device design and manufacturing community, and are proud to be a trusted and leading supplier to them."

[Image courtesy of EPOXY TECHNOLOGY INC.]

Editor's Note: If you have news you’d like to submit for potential inclusion in future weekly roundups, please send a press release and any related images to [email protected] with the subject line “Supplier Stories.”

Daphne Allen is editor-in-chief of MD+DI. She previously served as executive editor of Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News, which serves as the pharmaceutical and medical device channel of Packaging Digest.Daphne has covered medical device manufacturing, packaging, labeling, and regulatory issues as well as pharmaceutical packaging and labeling for more than 20 years. She is also a member of the Institute of Packaging Professionals's Medical Device Packaging Technical Committee. Follow her on Twitter at @daphneallen.